Saving her life - Fourtris Short Story
by Ella Natalie Eaton
Summary: Tobias Eaton had only been living as an official Dauntless member for a few months, but him and his initiate class were trained to face the hardest situations. When war explodes in the Erudite compound, the newest Dauntless members are sent to protect Abnegation. Tobias saves the life of a 14 year old, Beatrice Prior,and is confronted with choices between love, duty and his faction
1. Chapter 1

"Have you heard?"

That was the way Shauna greeted both Zeke and I at breakfast that morning. Newspaper in hand, she took a seat next to her boyfriend and looked from him to me and back at him. We both shrugged in reply and she sighed, punching the newspaper with her bare hand, sounding frustrated.

"The Erudite are going to war" she announced, and we both shot her quizzical looks, and then she explained. The Erudite had been threatening the Abnegation for weeks, more like forever. They never liked each other. Even when I belonged to the stiff community, my hatred for those know it alls grew every time I see them pushing some Abnegation kid of the way, calling us names. I mean, calling _them _names.

But this time, it was serious. They've attacked one of their biggest buildings. According to the paper, there were more than fifty dead or seriously injured men, women and children, that didn't do anything wrong. They were someone's brother, best friend, baby sister, older daughter, husband… And all for that thirst of power that followed every single Erudite member around.

"So, what's going to happen now?" I asked, after exchanging a look with my friends. Both shook their heads, not knowing how to answer me.

"We fight" my instructor said, sneaking up behind us. The three of us jumped in our seats, and a smile was drawn in his lips, almost as if he was teasing us "I'll show those cowards what my initiate class can do. Get ready to leave after breakfast" I looked at him, my expression turned into a big question mark. He stood over a table and the chats across the dining hall stop in a blink of an eye. Most of the people there were in my initiate class, some of them transfers, like myself, others were not. But even the loudest of us went silent "For our initiates this year I have a few words of… Advise. The mission is to protect the Abnegation and stop this nonsense war. You must not cause any unnecessary harm, and you can never shoot an unarmed man, whatever faction he's from. Access the damage and protect as many people as you can, doesn't matter what faction you came from. Dauntless was your choice, and its our rules you must follow" He glimpsed at the three Erudite transfers that made it through initiation. Eric, the guy that ranked second to me, sighed in pure anger, his fists clenched under the table. I tried not to smile, even for a second. After a quick pause, my instructor continued talking "And if you see that someone will die in the next few seconds… You know what that means. Good luck to all." Of course we all knew. If someone has seconds or minutes to live, we have to leave them behind. It's the rules of war. As he leaves the room, buzzing starts in every table and I see Zeke and Shauna's eyes turning to me.

- Are you okay with this? – He asks, at which I reply with a shrug – I mean, they're your ol…

- Don't even – I cut his words like a sword, and shake my head – They mean nothing to me. I have no one that I care about there. And even if I did, they'd probably be dead by now. My head's clear, and I focused on our purpose. Just that

That answer seemed to be acceptable, since none of them made any comments about it. We stood up, the three of us, and walked behind the majority of the excited initiates, heading towards the weapons room. Once he reach it, everyone ran as fast as they could, grabbing a backpack, a gun, ammo, first aid kits, flashlights and other supplies.

- I feel like a ninja! – Shauna said, pulling her hair into a ponytail and zipping her backpack – You know, dressed in black, ready to kick some Erudite butts – Both Zeke and I laughed. She had to have a girly comment, even in the scariest situations.

"Get ready, knows-it-all" I whispered to myself, before quickly loading my gun, saving some ammo in my backpack. I was serious, my muscles tense, my hands turned into fists, clenching at the thought of another death, another drop of blood spilled. Abnegation wasn't my faction, it was never my home. But what was happening was cowardice. And I wasn't going to be a coward again. Not anymore. Never again.

"The Dauntless are going to war."


	2. Chapter 2

On the train, there was silence. An uncomfortable, heavy silence, pounding on the back of our heads like a hammer, that was only good for increasing our state of nerves. We were all sitting on the ground, hearing nothing but the train sliding over the tracks. Everywhere I looked at, I saw the same: An army of sixteen year-old ninjas, staring at the ground, at their hands, biting their nails, checking their guns or leaning against each other. Although all of us had fired a gun before, none had stood in front of another human being and pulled the trigger. I think that was our main concern. To kill, to injure, to deprive some little boy of their father, some old woman from her son. And to imagine them, sitting on the couch, staring at the door, waiting for nothing but good news. And some of them will not get them. But, if it came to that, we would have to.

I look to my right, to my new friends. Lauren is curling her hair with her fingers, exchanging a nervous look with one of the Erudite transfers. They shouldn't even be here. But, like Amar said, Dauntless was our choice, and its their rules we should follow, their life we must adopt. Shauna and Zeke are leaning against each other, holding hands with their fingers tangled. I've seen them doing such, and is starting to become indifferent, at my eyes. But I still find it something strange. Don't their hands hurt, by staying in that position for such a long period of time? My gaze travels from their hands to their expressions. They're serious, but whenever their eyes meet, there's a smile from each one of them.

(…)

We jump off the train, and what's in front of us is hell. Men dressed in blue, with guns, that produce that loud sound that pounds in my ears for a while, to which I am already used to. It is a strange sight, seeing the Erudite carrying guns and knowing how to use them. Their aim is bad, but I hear several people screaming. We're separated, and I see Zeke waving me before he disappears with Shauna into a corridor on their left. I follow Lauren, and we head towards a block of housed from where we heard the few screams.

As soon as we reach an intersection of grey houses, one Erudite man spots us. He runs for his gun, and when he turns around Lauren shoots, making him fall on his back with a thump. I grab his gun. He only had two bullets left. I look over at Lauren. She doesn't seem to feel guilty at all. Her eyes are locked on the street, her shoulders pushed back, like a feline waiting to defend her clan, her friends, her family. When I'm about to take a step in her direction, I see someone, laying on the ground, a wound bleeding from her leg, making pressure with her hands over it, trying to contain the blood. I kneel next to her and for a second, her eyes meet mine. She looks younger than I am, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, with eyes of an uncommon shade of grey and blonde hair tied in an Abnegation ponytail. I touch the back of her hand and she holds back, her body shaking with the contact with my skin. I push her hand out of the way and remember what we were taught for this mission: Access the damages and try to fix them.

Her leg had only the entry wound, and when I touch the point where the bullet made its way in, the girl's body cringes and she bites her lip, probably trying not to scream and call anyone's attention. She tries to roll over and drag herself to a house, not far away from where we're standing, but when she does such, she starts to bleed again and touch her arm to make her face me.

- It's okay. It's okay. We're here to help. I'm going to help you. But you can't move – She looks at me with a confused look, probably wondering if she should trust me or not – I know you're not used to it, but I'll pick you up, and carry you to a safer place.

- I can walk – Her voice is just like I imagined it, not like someone who's hurt, but like someone who could stand up, pick up a gun and fight by our side. She leans on her hand to achieve impulse to try to get on her feet but, as soon as she puts some weight on her injured leg, her mouth lets go of a sound, like a wail, and her hand travels to her leg, as an instinctive gesture.

- I know you're suspicious about me. Someone shot you and you feel you're your world had just taken a full turn, and you don't know where to turn. But you have to trust me and let me carry you. Okay?

After a few seconds of looking at me, top to bottom, she nods, and allows me to put an arm under hers, and another under the back of her knees, lifting her of the ground. Her eyes are locked first on her leg, blood dripping on the floor, but quickly travel to where Lauren is. There's a shot and the sound of something falling. The girl looks around, trying to see who just fell on the ground, but I start walking towards a small house, with her on my arms, trying to calm her down.

- It's going to be okay. Just try not to move.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you everyone for your reviews! It means so so much!

About this chapter: I wanted a really cute Fourtris moment, but since the chapter was originally 1700 words long, I decided to split it in 2. Thank you!

We walk inside the closest house we can find. Its grey and small, like every house in Abnegation should be. I'm making the number one reckless mistake, of walking inside someone's home, in the middle of a war zone, with an injured girl in my arms and no chances of reaching my gun. I look at the girl. She doesn't look like someone who could grab a gun, and especially not someone who could shoot it. So I take my chances that the house is empty, and fortunately, I am lucky. There's no one. A smell of fresh bread fills the hallway that connects the kitchen and the living room. I smile, for a split second, remembering one of the very few memories about this place that I like. The taste of fresh bread in the morning, and feeling that scent wrap around myself, entering my nose and settling in my brain for the rest of the day.

I hear a sound of something breaking coming from a higher ground, like glass being thrown against a window. I place the girl on the couch, and I rip a piece of my shirt, placing it on her hands, and I tell her to apply pressure around the wound, but avoiding the bullet entry point. It's still in there, and too much pressure could cause it to go deeper into her skin, and cause a fatal infection. I don't want her t… I mean, I don't want anyone else to die. I hear a blood freezing scream and the sound of something being thrown against the walls. I grab my gun and run up the stairs, following the sound. I enter a room at the end of the hallway, and I see a woman, in her middle 30s, with a cut on her forehead, and messy dark hair covering her eyes, slowly standing up from the ground in the exact second an Erudite man, a few years older than I am, pointing a gun at her.

- No! – She screams again, and her voice is filled with such despair that it would cause the bravest man's blood to freeze in just a split second. It did it to me, and I felt my heart skip a beat, before I jump to where the man was standing, taking advantage of the element of surprise, just what I was taught. He falls on the ground, but his fingers are still wrapped around the gun, and I fight him, trying to make him let go. He's a good fighter and, even though I'm better than he is, he manages to take my knife, opening a wound in my left shoulder. I hear the sound of fabric being ripped, and I feel the wet drips of blood sliding down my arm. I use my strength and a kick to roll him over, so that I'm using my weight to lock him on the ground. I twist his hand holding the knife, and he screams. I hear footsteps behind me, and I can only hope it's the woman, getting herself up. If not, I'm already dead. I look over my injured shoulder and I sigh in relief. My hopes were right.

The man starts to jerk and gets on arm free, hitting me in the back with his gun, making me drop my knife, while I fight to regain my balance and keeping myself from falling over him. That would give him the strength to lock me on the ground. I'm not going to give up the advantage. I'm not. I'm not. The woman takes a step in our direction, and I only have a couple second to shout "Get back!" before the man stops hitting me, moving his arm to the side and shooting. There's a loud bang right next to my ears, and it causes me to temporarily lose my hearing. There's a loud bip hammering my right ear while I grab my knife in my hand, and I struggle against what's left of my conscience.

I can't kill him.

_He just took a life. He killed a woman. _

I can't.

_She probably had kids, Four. And a husband. A family._

And he has a mother, or a father, somewhere, waiting for him to come back.

_Do it. Don't make the Dauntless regret accepting you. You're scared of shooting, I know, but this it making justice. If you let him go…_

He might take another life.

_He might take another life._

I'll do it.

_Do it._

The knife makes a strange noise, piercing the man's skin, similar to the one I heard in my shoulder. It goes into his heart and I see his eyes close, and I feel his heart stop beating, like a lightbolt being turner off. I stand up quickly, and I shake off the death, reaching the woman. She's fallen on her back and I reach for her neck, looking for a pulse. I check my watch, I count the seconds, I breathe in, I breathe out, and I get nothing. No. Not another one. I place my ear against her chest, waiting to hear something. Even weak, I need something. "Come on", I tell the unconscious woman "Come on!"

Again, I get nothing.

Dammit.

I punch the ground before standing up. I just let someone die. Because of me, some little boy or girl is spending its childhood, its teen years, without their mother. I'm not going to let that happen again.

I run down the stairs again, and I watch the blonde girl, lying on the couch, with a bloody piece of black fabric over her leg. I kneel beside her, and I catch a glimpse of her eyes. Grey, like the house, like her clothes. She's scared. She should be. Even though I'm here, and I'm doing everything to calm her down, she should be scared. Her eyes meet mine. She wants to know something. But she's either not willing to ask, or she's afraid of the answer. So I lie, and I tell her that was nothing and all was fine.

- I can't stay here – She looks at me, and I see a flash of something new in her eyes – My parents, my brother… I must find them – I have no doubts. She's really an Abnegation girl. Or maybe, that's just how everyone who loves their family reacts. I'll never know. I shoot her a quizzical look, waiting for an explanation. She speaks like its too obvious – I need to know if they're alright.

- We're going to find them. We're taking everyone to a safe place, so after this, you'll meet again. We'll find them. I promise – And I mean it. She hesitates for a while, before nodding. I take off the piece of fabric, and the wound starts to bleed again. The bullet was not moved and a sigh of relief leaves my lips. I just hope its easier. The girl leans forward to look at her injury, and she seems surprised with the blood, dripping from her leg.

- Lie down, and try not to move, okay? – She nods twice, and leans back on a pillow, the same color of her shirt. I speak, almost for myself but too loud for her to listen – I have to take the bullet out.


End file.
